Professor Kate Ellacott
Director of Postgraduate Research - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Associate Professor
k.ellacott@exeter.ac.uk
01392 408267
RILD Building 4.04
University of Exeter Medical School, RILD Building, RD&E Hospital Wonford, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK
Overview
Kate Ellacott is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Neuroscience at the University of Exeter. Her long-standing research interest is understanding how the brain controls food intake and body weight. Prof Ellacott has over twenty years of experience in this area from work at Universities in the USA and UK. Recently, her recent research has been funded by the Medical Research Council, Diabetes UK, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the British Society for Neuroendocrinology.
Kate is currently the Deputy-president and general secretary of the British Society for Neuroendocrinology.
Kate Ellacott is currently the Faculty Director for Postgraduate Research for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. She also teaches neuroendocrinology on the BSc Neuroscience and MSc Neuroscience programmes and has previously taught on the BMBS Medicine and BSc Medical Sciences programmes.
Kate is passionate about student support and improving the experience for students at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate), particularly those with additional support needs. She is committed to mentoring students and early career researchers and is enthusiastic about promoting careers in research and academic medicine.
X/Twitter: @NeuroEndo_Ex
ORCID: 0000-0001-5261-7465
Postgraduate Research opportunities: Prof Ellacott is open to email enquires from students with their own funding interested in pursuing an MSc by Research or PhD in neuroendocrinology, metabolism, obesity or diabetes research.
Qualifications
- BSc. Pharmacology – University of Edinburgh
- Ph.D. Neuroscience – University of Manchester
- Pg.Cert. Academic Practice - University of Exeter
- Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy
Career
After completing a PhD at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Profs. Nancy Rothwell and Simon Luckman she was awarded a Wellcome Trust international travelling fellowship to study with Dr Roger Cone at the Vollum Institute in Portland, Oregon, USA. Kate remained in Oregon until 2008 when she joined the faculty Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee and started an independent research programme examining the effect of obesity on central nervous system function. While at Vanderbilt, Kate also served as Associate Director of the Metabolic Pathophysiology Core of the Vanderbilt Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center.
Kate joined the University of Exeter Medical School in 2014.
Research group links
- Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science
- Diabetes, cardiovascular risk and ageing
- Neuroscience and mental health
Research
Research interests
Kate's broad research interest is understanding how the brain controls food intake and body weight. In particular her research is focused on how different cell types in the brain (neurons, microglia, astrocytes and endothelial cells) coordinate and interact to regulate these processes. Her lab also studies how the normal function of the brain changes in response to alterations in body weight including obesity (excess body weight) and anorexia/cachexia (insufficient body weight), and how these changes in the brain contribute to the development of commonly associated diseases like diabetes.
Obesity, a major public health issue in the U.K. that affects greater than 25% of the adult population. It is estimated to directly cost the National Health Service (NHS) £4.2billion each year and can affect all aspects of a person’s life. Currently there are limited treatment options available. The long term goal of Kate's research is to impact human health by improving our knowledge of how the brain controls food intake and body weight, which will help in the development of new therapies for obesity and anorexia/cachexia.
Research projects
Ongoing
2022-2024 Skills, Knowledge and Transfer Grant - NC3Rs
Title: "Refining mouse glucose homeostasis assessments"
Goal: To develop a new more refined protocol for experimental glucose tolerance testing in mice that better mimics the human clinical assay.
Collaborator: Craig Beall
Staff: Katherine Pye
2020-2023 Project Grant 19/0006035 (Ellacott) - Diabetes UK
Title: "Regulation of glucose homeostasis by brainstem astrocytes"
Goal: To understand the contribution of astrocytes in the dorsal vagal complex to the regulation of blood glucose control
Collaborator: Craig Beall
Staff: Alastair McDonald, Katherine Pye
Completed
2018-2020 Pilot Grant MR/R014345/1 (Ellacott) - Medical Research Council
Title: "IMPC - Understanding the role of 18kDa Translocator protein (TSPO) in the
regulation of energy homeostasis in mice"
Goal: To investigate the potential role of 18kDa Translocator protein (TSPO) in mediating homeostatic changes in food intake and body weight.
Collaborators: Craig Beall, Chris Scotton
Staff: Katherine Pye, Nicole Morrissey
2016-2020 Project Grant MR/N012763/1 (Ellacott) – Medical Research Council
Title: “The role of hypothalamic astrocytes in homeostatic regulation of feeding”
Goal: To understand how hypothalamic astrocytes sense nutrient availability and regulate the activity neuronal circuits that regulate food intake
Collaborators: Andy Randall, Craig Beall
Staff: Hannah Smithers, Katherine Pye, Alastair McDonald
2016-2019 GW4 DTP PhD Studentship (Ellacott) – GW4/Medical Research Council
Title: “Defining the contribution of hypothalamic astroglia to the homeostatic regulation of food intake”
Goal: To fund a student to work on understanding how astrocytes sense nutrient availability and regulate the activity neuronal circuits that regulate food intake
Collaborators: Tony Pickering (Bristol), Craig Beall
Student: Alastair McDonald
2016-2017 Innovative Grant (Beall) – Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Title: “Does an orally active, brain permeable AMPK activator improve hypoglycemia counterregulation in a rat model of type 1 diabetes?”
Goal: To evaluate the efficacy of an orally active AMPK activator as a potential therapeutic agent to improve hypoglycemia sensing in type 1 diabetes.
Collaborator: Craig Beall
Staff: Yasama Malekizadeh
2016-2017 Small Project Grant (Ellacott) – British Society for Neuroendocrinology
Title: “A role for mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) in fatty acid sensing by astrocytes”
Goal: The goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that TSPO functions as a docking protein in the outer mitochondrial membrane which binds ACBP allowing it to present fatty acyl-CoA to CPT-1 for transport across the mitochondrial membrane for utilization in β-oxidation.
Collaborators: Craig Beall, John Chilton
Staff: Josie Robb, Nicole Morrissey
2017-2018 Small Project Grant (Hanna) – British Society for Neuroendocrinology
Title: “Investigation of hypothalamic dysfunction in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)”
Goal: To characterize changes in the electrophysiological properties of hypothalamic neurons with disease progression in Alzheimer's disease.
Collaborators: Lydia Hanna, Andy Randall,
Staff: Lydia Hanna
Research networks
- Craig Beall - Gucose sensing by the brain
- Tony Pickering (Bristol) - Autonomic nervous system function
- Hugh Piggins (Bristol) - Circadian rhythms
- David Murphy (Bristol) - Neuroendcrinology
- Chris Scotton- Immune cell function
- Carolina Coelho - Glial immunometabolism in fungal infection
Research grants
- 2017 Medical Research Council
Title: IMPC - Understanding the role of 18kDa Translocator protein (TSPO) in the regulation of energy homeostasis in mice - 2016 Medical Research Council
Title: The role of hypothalamic astrocytes in the homeostatic regulation of feeding behaviour - 2016 Medical Research Council
GW4 MRC Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Studentship Title: Defining the contribution of hypothalamic astroglia to the homeostatic regulation of food intake - 2016 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Title: Does an orally active, brain permeable AMPK activator improve hypoglycemia counterregulation in type 1 diabetes?
Links
Publications
Journal articles
Conferences
External Engagement and Impact
Committee/panel activities
2016-current Board of Trustees and Member of the Organising committee, British Society for Neuroendocrinology
2020-current General Secretary and Deputy-President, British Society for Neuroendocrinology
2019-current Member Grant Review Pabel, Medical Research Council Genome Editing Mice for Medicine (GEMM) programme
2017- 2023 Member, Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant review panel Committee A
Editorial responsibilities
Senior Editor
- Journal of Neuroendocrinology
Editorial Advisory Board
- Frontiers in Cellular Endocrinology
- Frontiers in Behavioural Endocrinology
Competitively won research fellowships
2011-2013 Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Research Center Young Investigator Award
2003-2007 Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellowship
1999-2002 MRC-Case PhD studentship (University Manchester/Astra Zeneca)
Conferences and invited presentations
2023 Invited Speaker: European Behavioural Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting, Mannheim, Germany “Hindbrain astrocytes and the regulation of food intake”
2023 Invited Speaker: Student Committee in Neurometabolism (Québec, Canada) Neurometabolic Summer Seminar Series (online, open to all) “Astrocytes in neural circuits controlling food intake”
2023 Invited Speaker: NeuroFrance 2023, Lyon, France “Emerging role of astrocytes in the brain control of energy homeostasis”
2022 Invited Speaker: Nutrition and the biology of aging, British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) and the Biochemical Society, University of Kent “Diet-induced changes in astrocytes – implications for physiology and pathophysiology.”
2022 Invited Speaker (plenary): Physiological Society Meeting – Celebrating Physiology in Edinburgh, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh “Regulation of feeding behaviour – A role for astrocytes?”
2022 Invited Speaker: BBSRC South Coast Bio Doctoral Training Programme Annual conference, “The contribution of astrocytes to neural circuits controlling food intake”
2022 Invited Speaker: University of Leeds (Online), “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2022 Invited Speaker: Cardiff University (Online), “The contribution of astrocytes to neural circuits controlling food intake”
2021 Invited Speaker: Society for Endocrinology: Endocrine Network – Metabolic and Obesity (Online), “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2021 Invited Speaker: University of Lübeck (Online), “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2021 Invited Speaker: French Glial Club - “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2019 Invited (plenary) Speaker: British Society for Neuroendocrinology, Early Career Research Symposium. “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2019 Invited Speaker: Physiology of Obesity & Diabetes Symposium, Aberdeen. “Regulation of food intake by brainstem astrocytes”
2019 Invited Speaker: Physiology of Obesity & Diabetes Symposium, Aberdeen. “Regulation of food intake by brainstem astrocytes”
2019 Invited Speaker: Departments of Physiology & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge - “Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour”
2018 Invited Speaker: Department of Pharmacology, University of Bath - Astrocytes and the regulation of feeding behaviour"
2018 Invited Speaker: International Congress in Neuroendocrinology, Toronto, Canada - Astrocyte inflammation and energy homeostasis
2018 Invited Speaker: American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting, Orlando FL - Astrocyte inflammation and energy homeostasis
2018 Invited Speaker: Department of Neuroscience, King's College London - The emerging role of astrocytes in the regulation of energy homeostasis
2016 Invited speaker: University of Dundee, Division of Cardiovascular & Diabetes Medicine Seminar Series, - Glial cells in the regulation of energy homeostasis
2015 Invited Speaker: Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine Seminar Series, – Evidence for a novel role for astrocytes in the modulation of feeding behaviour
2015 Invited speaker: 9th Mammalian Genes, Development and Disease Meeting, University of Bath – Evidence for a novel role for astrocytes in the modulation of feeding behaviour
2012 Invited Speaker: The Jackson Laboratory & Scripps Institute Educational Symposium; La Jolla, CA – Assessing energy balance from human to the mouse
2010 Invited Speaker: Experimental Biology Annual Meeting; Anaheim, CA – Why is my mouse fat? - Assessing energy balance in the mouse.
2008 Invited Speaker: The Center for Diabetes and Obesity Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX - Inflammation and the pathophysiology of obesity and metabolic syndrome
2008 Invited Speaker: The Burnham Institute Annual Symposium - Obesity and diabetes in the 21st century: from basic research to drug discovery; San Diego, CA – The role of the central melanocortin system in glucose homeostasis and metabolic syndrome
2007 Invited Speaker: The Jackson Laboratory Discovery Strategies Conference: Modeling the human metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in rodents; Bar Harbor, ME - The melanocortin-3 receptor null mouse – A model of obesity in the absence of metabolic syndrome.
2003 Invited Speaker: Digestive Disease Week; Orlando, FL – The role of the central melanocortin system in the regulation of food intake.
Teaching
BSc Neuroscience- NEU3023 - Neuroendocrinology, Lecturer
MSc Neuroscience
- NEUM005 - Neuroendocrinology, Lecturer
- Academic tutor
Modules
2023/24
Information not currently available
Supervision / Group
Postgraduate researchers
- Asmaa Alkhalidi
- Wyn Firth
Research Technicians
- Katherine Pye
Alumni
- Alastair MacDonald
- Nicole Morrissey
- Josephine Robb
- Hannah Smithers
- Julia Vlachaki Walker